The challenge is moving fast and staying great. You have to keep the bar high. There's only one way you can evolve the brand and perception, which is to deliver. You just gotta lay it down.
One of the key principles we have at Amazon is 'by a fraction.' We like to get things done quickly.
If I could wave a wand, I would order another season of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' That's a show with a real voice.
In tech-land, no one cares what kind of car you drive, and frankly, they're not going to find out anyway. You're not going to go to lunch together, because you're going to be sitting in your cube with a brown bag eating lunch.
Traditionally, there's been a desire to make shows relatable so the maximum number of people would think of those characters as being recognizably like them. The risk there is you can push everything in a somewhat generic direction.
In the on-demand environment, you need love, not like. There's no lead in. You're not going to surf channels and hit it. People have to really want that show.
It's core to Amazon's culture that we want to innovate and think big, and it's great to be at a place like that.
I left Disney in 2000 because I thought that the process of watching TV was really going to change, and the process of creating it and the business model had to change, too.
People already have tons of regular TV. They don't need more of that.
The Hollywood business has been experiencing continual change since about 1915, when Charlie Chaplin was in Venice. The current time is no exception... You have to accept there will be constant change in the future.
I think people are very interested when a creator is really trying to do something new and do it with integrity and honesty, when it gives them something they can connect with and has an emotional core.
In the movies, you typically do get to see the script beforehand. TV is different because there are a lot of scripts in the future that you haven't seen. You commit to a show, and you have to believe in the showrunner and their team and the stories they're going to tell.
I ran development and programming at Disney TV animation. We did a lot of cartoons.
I tend to think that the whole concept of, 'I saw this TV show, and someone was wearing this sweater, and now I'm going to buy that,' it's something that's been talked about for a long time, but I've never really seen it work. When people are watching an entertainment show, they want to be entertained.
Embracing change is central to Amazon's DNA.
TV is going to be more tailored to you, and the traditional experience of coming in in the middle of a show will be part of the past.
